This module provides students with essential research skills training in Shakespeare studies. Students will learn how to locate and make use of research materials central to the literary, historical, theatrical, and practice-based study of Shakespeare, and they also will develop their ability to critically evaluate the evidence and arguments of other scholarship in the field. Making the most of the resources of Stratford-upon-Avon and the wider region, the module will include visits to important collections such as the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust archives, the Royal Shakespeare Company archives, the Cadbury Research Library, and/or the Library of Birmingham Shakespeare collections. The work undertaken in this module will help inform the direction and methodology of student research during the MA, particularly in the dissertation and independent project stages.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Identify, locate, and use key resources, both physical and digital, relating to the academic study of Shakespeare (whether literary, historical, theatrical, or practice-based).
Evaluate the relevance, authority, provenance, and usefulness of different kinds of primary and secondary resources and incorporate this knowledge into one's own research and writing.
Analyse and critique methodological approaches that are used in the field of Shakespeare studies.
Organize and present academic research in writing to a professional standard.
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions
Assessment:
1,500 word reflective learning journal (50%) 1,500 word essay (50%)
Reassessment:
Failed component only 1,500 word reflective learning journal (50%) 1,500 word essay (50%)
